Mumbai, May 4
Skipper Shaun Pollock led from the front as Mumbai Indians defended a small total with verve and vigour to stun table-toppers Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs for their second successive win in the Indian Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium here today.

After being restricted to a none-too-tall 162 for eight, the home team, at the bottom of the league chart going into the match, bowled with purpose and struck blows at timely intervals to skittle out the Delhi team for 133 in 18.5 overs.

The bowling heroes for the struggling home team, who brought up the rear going into their sixth match, was stand-in captain Pollock (2 for 16) and discarded India pacer Ashish Nehra, who took 3 for 25 which included two off successive balls.

The superb display by the senior bowlers inspired youngster Dhawal Kulkarni to grab the last two wickets and finish with 2 for 18.

But the most telling blow was struck by Dominic Thornely who, after being introduced as the sixth bowler when Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag was on a rampage, dismissed the flamboyant opener with a low full toss.

Sehwag gave the Delhi Daredevils' chase the early momentum with a quick-fire 40 off only 20 balls, inclusive of three sixes and as many fours, in his inimitable fashion after the visitors were put on the back foot at four for two.

He also added a crucial 45 runs with Shoaib Malik for the fourth wicket after A.B. de Villiers was run out backing too far to a firm drive from Sehwag which got deflected on to the non-striker's end stumps by the bowler.

Sehwag seemed to be on a roll and his dismissal at 82 in the 11th over simply unhinged the Delhi line-up and also brought the Mumbai Indians back into the game.

Malik (24) and Dinesh Karthik (28) kept them in the fight before departing in the space of two overs and the rest simply caved in as Delhi suffered their second defeat in six ties.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians batting failed to prosper yet another time after being asked to take first strike.

The home team's batting sparkled sporadically with no batsman willing to bat till the end, and they finished with what seemed an inadequate total on a good pitch.

Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya (34), newcomer Yogesh Takawale (14), Thornely (30) and Robin Uthappa (22), in the top order, got starts but failed to make them count as the Delhi Daredevils struck at regular intervals to stop their progress.

After a opening stand of 46 between their new pair of wicketkeeper Takawale and veteran Jayasuriya - who looked in supreme touch and struck one six and six fours in his 16-ball knock - the innings went into a decline before being propped up by Thornely and Uthappa.

The third wicket pair put on 52 runs in 36 balls but once this stand between Thornely, who hit two fours and as many sixes in his 24-ball essay, and Uthappa was broken, there was a steep slide.

Scoreboard

Mumbai Indians

Y. Takawale c Sangwan b Mahesh 14

Jayasuriya b Mahesh 34

D. Thornely b Bhatia 30

Uthappa c Malik b Sangwan 22

Bravo c Mahesh b Malik 2

Abhishek Nayar b Sehwag 2

Pollock c de Villiers b Mahesh 33

S. Tiwary c Malik b Asif 9

Rohan Raje not out 6

Nehra not out 0

Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-3, nb-1) 10

Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 162

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-50, 3-102, 4-109, 5-112, 6-112, 7-136, 8-157.

Bowling: McGrath 4-0-26-0, Asif 4-0-46-1, Mahesh 4-0-33-3, Sangwan 4-0-21-1, Bhatia 2-0-22-1, Sehwag 1-0-2-1, Malik 1-0-6-1.

Delhi Daredevils

Gambhir c Uthappa b Nehra 1

Sehwag c Pollock b Thornely 40

S Dhawan c Uthappa b Pollock 1

de Villiers run out 21

S. Malik c Nayar b Pollock 24

Karthik lbw Bravo 28

R Bhatia c Uthappa b Nehra 9

P Sangwan c Tiwary b Nehra 2

Mahesh not out 3

Mohd Asif c Nehra b Kulkarni 0

McGrath c Thornely b Kulkarni 0

Extras (lb-3, nb-1) 4

Total (all out, 18.5 overs) 133

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-4, 3-37, 4-82, 5-109, 6-119, 7-130, 8-130, 9-132, 10-133

Bowling: Pollock 4-0-16-2, Nehra 4-0-25-3, Bravo 3-0-27-1, DS Kulkarni 2.5-0-18-2, Jayasuriya 1-0-16-0, Thornely 2-0-15-1, Raje 2-0-13-0.

Man of the Match: Shaun Pollock. — PTI

Jaipur, May 4
Riding on a sensational best ever bowling spell of Twenty20 cricket by Pakistani left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir (6/14), Rajasthan Royals cantered to an easy eight wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match here today.

After Tanvir's unbelievable 4-0-14-6 rocked the Super Kings innings to skittle them out for a paltry 109 after visiting team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat first, Rajasthan Royals were never in trouble and they romped home with 34 balls to spare.

Set 110 for a win, home team openers Graeme Smith (35 not out; 44 balls, 4x4) and Swapnil Asnodkar (32; 30 balls, 5x4) put on 78 runs for the first wicket to set up the win and place his team on top of the table.

Smith hit the winning runs off Muttiah Muralitharan for a two to bring up 110 for the home side's fifth win on the trot and hand Dhoni's team second consecutive loss after four consecutive victories.

For Super Kings, S Vidyut and Muttiah Muralitharan claimed a wicket apiece conceding 22 and 20 runs respectively.

Tanvir's unbelievable 4-0-14-6 was the first five-wicket haul and also the best figure of the IPL so far.

He was ably supported by Munaf Patel (2/16), Shane Watson (1/19) and captain Shane Warne (1/29) in completely destroying the Super Kings batsmen.

Tanvir started on a sensational note removing Parthiv Patel (0) LBW from his first ball with the visiting opener plumbed in front of wicket.

The Pakistani pacer then castled New Zealander Stephen Fleming for a duck for another LBW verdict to send both the Super Kings opener back to the hut in the very first over of their innings with scoreboard reading 1 for two.

Tanvir did not stop there and he had S Vidyut in the third over caught out Shane Watson for five to send the visitors reeling at 11 for three and end his own opening spell of two overs with an unbelievable 2-0-2-3.

He returned for the second spell in the 17th over from the first ball of which he sent Super Kings top scorer Albie Morkel' (42) stumps cart-wheeling to end a 44-run sixth wicket stand — highest for the Chennai side — with Raina (27).

Tanvir then clean-bowled Muttiah Muralitharan for a duck in the same over before claiming the last Chennai batsman Makhaya Ntini (11) to finish off the visitors' innings in style in the 19th over.

S Badrinath (15) and Raina, for a brief period, looked like to repair the early damage for the Chennai side with a fourth-wicket stand of 27 but Tanvir's new ball partner Shane Watson cut it short when he had Badrinath caught off his own bowling.

Home team captain Shane Warne also tasted success after introducing himself in the eighth over and won the battle against his opposite number Mahendra Singh Dhoni who perished for one after surviving two viciously turning balls off the retired Australian great.

By the time Dhoni was out after facing seven balls, half of his side's batsmen had returned to the pavilion for a mere 44 runs in the eighth over.

The visitors crawled to 58 for five at the end of 10th over and Munaf Patel emulated his team-mate Tanvir by removing Raina and Joginder Sharma (0) in a span of four balls in the 15th over to send the visitors to their knees.

Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings

Patel lbw b Tanvir 0

Fleming lbw b Tanvir 0

Vidyut c Warne b Tanvir 5

Raina c Tanvir b Patel 27

Badrinath c & b Watson 15

Dhoni c Smith b Warne 1

Morkel b Tanvir 42

Joginder c Tanvir b Patel 0

Gony not out 1

Muralitharan b Tanvir 0

Ntini b Tanvir 11

Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 2): 7

Total (all out; 19 overs): 109

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-11, 4-38, 5-44, 6-88, 7-91, 8-96, 9-96, 10-109

Bowling: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-14-6, S Watson 4-0-19-1, M Patel 4-0-16-2, S Trivedi 2-0-17-0, S Warne 3-0-29-1, Y Pathan 2-0-9-0

Rajasthan Royals

Smith not out 35

Asnodkar c Ntini b Vidyut 32

Pathan c Raina b Muralitharan 8

Watson not out 14

Extras (lb 6, w 14, nb 1): 21

Total (2 wickets; 14.2 overs): 110

Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-92

Bowling: M Ntini 3-1-17-0, M Gony 3-0-25-0, JA Morkel 1-0-10-0, M Muralitharan 4-0-20-1, S Raina 1.2-0-10-0, S Vidyut 2-0-22-1. — PTI

Mumbai, May 4
Kolkata Knight Riders spearhead Ishant Sharma was today fined 10 per cent of his match fees for kicking down the stumps in yesterday's Indian Premier League match against Punjab King's XI at Mohali.

IPL match referee Clive Lloyd found the speedster guilty of a Level 1 offence (clause 2) as per the International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct which has been adopted by the Twenty20 League authorities, a media release said today.

The offence relates to abusing ground equipment. IPL had earlier booted out Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for slapping King's XI bowler S Sreesanth at the same venue.

It had also fined Shane Warne, captain of Rajasthan Royals, and Sourav Ganguly, skipper of Knight Riders, for different breaches of the Code at Jaipur on May 1 during the two teams' contest.

Former India skipper Ganguly was found guilty of showing dissent on the field and fined 10 per cent of his match fees.

The Match Referee in his recommendation to the IPL said that Ganguly's act of prevailing upon Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire, to refer a decision to the TV umpire, constituted a Level I offence as per the ICC's Code of Conduct.

Spin legend Warne was found guilty of violating Section 1.7 of the ICC's Code of Conduct, which deals with 'public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or official,' which constitutes a Level I offence.

Warne had publicly criticised his opposite number Ganguly for an on-field incident at the end of the game between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. — PTI

Bangalore, May 4
On a roll after four back-to-back wins, Kings XI Punjab start overwhelming favourites against the beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here tomorrow.

Going into tomorrow's match, Yuvraj Singh's Kings XI Punjab seems to be the only team that has not been affected by the exit of its Australian imports - Simon Katich and Brett Lee.

In contrast, Bangalore lost their only consistent performer in Ross Taylor when the Kiwi opener had to leave for national duty against England.

Much is expected from Taylor's replacement Misbah-ul-Haq but the Pakistani right-hander has played only one game and that too without much success.

The Rahul Dravid-led outfit has managed just two wins in the high-profile Twenty20 tourney so far and they have come against teams that are not exactly in great touch either - Mumbai Indians and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.

King XI, on the other hand, lost their first two encounters but bounced back brilliantly to remain unbeaten thereafter, brushing aside controversies like the slap-gate involving its pacer S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh.

Their last win came against the more-fancied Kolkata Knight Riders and they discovered a match-winner in Australian Shaun Marsh, son of Geoff Marsh, who became man of the match on debut against Deccan Chargers.

The bowling too has not been affected much by Lee's departure and Irfan Pathan has taken over as the pace spearhead with elan.

The only cause of concern remains Sreesanth's economy rate and aggression, none of which has not shown any signs of coming down.

Bangalore, meanwhile, can take heart from Praveen Kumar's all-round performance. The UP player has been effective with the bat and ball and was the Man of the Match of their last win over Deccan Chargers.

However, the hosts desperately need somebody to strike form at the top. Although Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid have been scoring consistently, their strike rates have been too slow for the slam-bang version.

This has put additional burden on keeper-batsman Mark Boucher, who is left with too many runs to score in the last few overs after the top order fails to put on any substantial score on the board.

But despite these shortcomings, the Royal Challengers would be hoping to spring a surprise and register their second successive win at home.

Teams (From): Royal Challengers Bangalore: Rahul Dravid (c), Jacques Kallis, Wasim Jaffer, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher, Cameron White, Balachandra Akhil, Ashley Noffke, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Sunil Joshi, Abdur Razzak, K P Appanna, J Arunkumar, Devraj Patil, Bharat Chipli, Misbah-ul-Haq, K P Appanna, Vinay Kumar, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Shreevats Goswami.

Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (C), Ajitesh Argal, Piyush Chawla, Pankaj Dharmani, Rishi Dhawan, Irfan Pathan, Nitin Saini, VRV Singh, Tanmay Srivastava, Karan Goel, James Hopes, M Jayawardene, Uday Kaul, Luke Pomersbach, Kumar Sangakkara, Sunny Sohal, Sahil Kukreja, Shaun Marsh, Kyle Mills, Wilkin Mota, Ramesh Powar, Ramnaresh Sarwan and S Sreesanth. — PTI

Karachi, May 4
Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria cannot hide his disappointment at not being part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) razzmatazz and he insists it's not only the lure of moolah but also the stature that makes it a blue ribbon event.

The 27-year old told PTI in an interview that it was frustrating to watch other leg-spinners like Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Piyush Chawla playing in the IPL, while he was cooling his heels in the sidelines.

"It is not about the money really. But one does like to be involved in such a high profile event. I was surprised when I was not approached for the event. Because spinners do have a big role to play in Twenty20 cricket," he said.

On the money factor, he said the IPL earnings for players were good but many of them already earned well the year round by playing for their countries and in other foreign leagues.

"English county cricket still remains a very fulfilling and rewarding experience financially for many of us."

Kaneria said even if he had got an offer from any team in the IPL he would have had to get clearance from his English county, Essex to play but that would not have been a problem.

"I have a long relationship with Essex and they have been very good to me. They have done a lot for me. I would have taken clearance from them," he said.

"I have been following the IPL closely and I can say this with confidence if ever I get a chance to play in this league I know I can be effective," he said.

Analysing the performance of the spinners so far in the tournament, Kaneria said, "You watch and you see that Chawla is the most successful spinner in the event because he gives air and turns the ball. Warne and Kumble are pushing the ball through and it makes it easier for the batsmen to go after them. It helps their timing."

Kaneria had no doubt that in Twenty20 cricket a leg-spinner needed to hold the ball back and give it a tweak.

"A leg spinner is supposed to turn the ball and in this form of the game if you can turn the ball and bowl it slow I think you have a good chance to not only contain the batsmen but also get wickets because they have to go after you and force their shots."

Kaneria also dispelled the impression that Twenty20 cricket was not for
spinners. — PTI

New Delhi, May 4
Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi today welcomed Shoaib Akhtar in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament after a Pakistani appeal tribunal suspended the five-year ban on the maverick speedster for a month, paving way for his participation in the IPL.

"Our condition (to allow him play in IPL) was that the ban must be lifted or suspended. In that effect, Shoaib is now allowed to play in the IPL. We've spoken to him and he should be coming to India in the next two days," Modi told NDTV.

The IPL chief said he was in touch with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf, who confirmed that the five-year ban on Shoaib had been suspended by the three-member tribunal.

Shoaib's repeated violation of the player's Code of Conduct had invited a five-year ban from the PCB, which not only jeopardised his IPL participation but also his entire career. Shoaib subsequently made an appeal against the ban and realising that a final verdict may take long, the pacer made a fresh appeal yesterday, requesting the tribunal to temporarily suspend the ban and allow him to take part in the IPL.

Modi said with the tribunal clearing the deck for Shoaib's participation for the remainder of the IPL, the speedster was naturally happy.

"Shoaib was very happy and he is looking forward to it. He has been calling me on a daily basis." Shoaib joining the Kolkata Knight Riders squad would also add sheen to the tournament, Modi said.

"It's a great moment for us because he is a great asset for IPL. He has got a huge fan base in India and the Knight Riders are extremely happy.”

"I spoke to (Knight Riders owner) Shah Rukh (Khan), he is very happy. He wanted Shoaib to come for one day at least. We are happy that Shoaib can now play for him," Modi said.

Modi said the pacer could play the next match for the Kolkata outfit, even though it was up to the team management to take a final call on the issue.

"He's free to play from the next match itself but it would depend on when he gets down here. The trainer and physio will check him, the coach would go through the process. So whether he would play the next match or not, it's for the Knight Riders to decide," Modi said. — PTI

Darwin, May 4
Indian ended with the wooden spoon again in the four-nation hockey tournament, losing 3-4 to Korea in the bronze medal playoff tie of the second leg of the event here today.

India were the superior side in the first half but the usual script of their forwards failing to finish off continued as the two sides went for the breather at 2-2 scoreline.

The Koreans, who were the runners-up to Australia in the first leg in Perth, took control of the second half and shut out the Indians.

For India, Tushar Khandekar (12th minute) and V Raghunath (28th and 70th) found the target while B Kim (16th, 68th) and Hye Sung Hyun (19th, 49th) were the goal scorers for the winners.

It was, however, India who caught Korea by surprise early in the match with captain Khandekar latching on to a defensive lapse to fire home in the 12th minute.

The Koreans recovered swiftly to make up for their lapse and, within four minutes of India taking the lead, showed their penalty corner conversion precision with B Kim making no mistake for their first goal.

Three minutes later, Korea took the lead with Hye Sung Hyun scoring a fine field goal by getting past Indian goalkeeper after collecting a long pass.

However, India soon levelled the score from a penalty corner conversion of their own in the 28th minute with Raghunath sounding the board.

Korea moved quickly to regain the lead early in the second half, patiently working the ball into Indian circle before firing an accurate field goal via by Hye Sung Hyun again for his second goal of the match.

As the game progressed, Korea gradually gained control of it and they converted another penalty corner in the 68th minute.

Raghunath sounded the board in the last minute from a penalty corner but that was too late in the day for India to change the result of the match.

Earlier in the day, China showed why they have become a hockey power to reckon with as they matched Australia in all departments of the game only to lose 8-9 via penalty shootout after the two sides were locked 2-2 in the regulation and extra time. — PTI

Sanya (China), May 4
Thunderous applause and cheers greeted the Olympic torch today on the first leg of its marathon relay through mainland China after a protest-harried overseas journey.

“Go China”, people lining the streets chanted, waving Chinese flags as the flame made its way from a man-made island just off the tropical resort city of Sanya, on the southern tip of the island province of Hainan.

Some of the thousands who turned out climbed up trees to get a better view of the torch, which has already been paraded through the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic welcome.

“As the first stop for the torch relay in mainland China, we are very honoured and proud,” Sanya's Communist Party boss, Jiang Zelin, told a carefully selected audience of dignitaries, celebrities and ordinary people, before the relay set off.

The torch ended its Sanya leg of its tour with Hong Kong-born action star Jackie Chan, running with a local resident, carrying the flame to a closing ceremony on a beachfront park.

A bold plan to take a special flame to the top of Mount Everest faced a possible setback at the weekend as snow fell on the world's highest mountain.

The climbing team has been at 6,500 metres (21,300 feet) in advanced base camp or higher for at least three days, waiting for better weather to take the flame to the 8,848-metre (29,030-foot) peak and claim the crowning moment of a relay that was marred by anti-China protests on its round-the-world journey.

The demonstrations that dogged the main torch, which were mostly over China's crackdown against protests in Tibet, deeply embarrassed Beijing and provoked retaliatory rallies at home and abroad by patriotic Chinese.

Talks with envoys for exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing blames for inciting the Tibet protests, were scheduled to start in southern China today.

Some in the Hainan crowd wore nationalist T-shirts reading: “Tibet was, is and will always be part of China”.

Others wore T-shirts emblazoned with the calligraphy of chairman Mao Zedong: “A sea of red over the rivers and mountains of the motherland”.

Security in Sanya was low key but noticeable, with police speedboats patrolling offshore and officers helping marshal the crowds, where a carnival-like atmosphere prevailed.

The chances of any further disruption to the torch relay as it snakes its way through China ahead of August's Beijing Games appeared remote.

“The sacred Olympic flame relay will have a 'Journey of Harmony' through the land of China,” organisers said in a statement, using a Beijing-coined phrase to express a sentiment much lacking in cities like London, Paris and San Francisco.

Thoughts of Tibet and the problems that marred the global leg of the relay appeared to be far from the minds of the people who flocked to see the torch today.

“That we can reach the stage where we can hold the Olympics shows that we are a developed country which is becoming rich and powerful,” Wu Qi, 23, a teacher from Hainan, said.

Though the weather in Sanya was sunny and warm, meteorologists expect showers in the coming days across much of Hainan and relay organisers have prepared raincoats for the torch runners, a website of state news agency Xinhua said.

Chinese Olympic speed skating gold medallist Yang Yang was the first person to carry the torch.

“It went too fast,” she told state television, having run just 200 metres, like the other torch bearers.

The torch was to be carried by 208 runners - including businessmen, celebrities, athletes and “model” Communist Party members - and run over a course featuring both beaches and coconut groves.

After Sanya, it works its way up to provincial capital Haikou and then onto every province in China, including Tibet and the restive far western region of Xinjiang, where Beijing has accused Al-Qaida of working with Muslim separatists. — Reuters

Nagoya (Japan), May 4
A poor start to the final round dashed Jeev Milkha Singh's title hopes as he finished tied sixth with a last day score of one-under 69 in The Crowns golf tournament here today.

Jeev, who was three shots off the lead at the start of the final round, dropped two shots over the first two holes and was immediately on the back-foot. But his four-day total of six-under 274 was just enough for a tied sixth finish.

After dropping two shots early in the day, Jeev picked up birdies on the fifth, eighth, 10th and 12th holes to go two-under but two bogeys and a birdie forced him to settle for 69.

Nawanshahr, May 4
Punjab boys beat Rajasthan 26-14 in a league match of the 25th Sub-Junior Boys and 10th Mini Girls National Handball Championship currently underway at Kirpal Sagar Academy here in the district.

The event was inaugurated by the local bodies, industries and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia at a spectacular ceremony on Friday evening.

S.S. Channi, principal secretary, Industries and Commerce, Punjab, S.M. Bali, secretary, Handball Federation of India, Surinder Kaur and Dr Karamjit Singh, patron and president of Kirpal Sagar Academy were also present on the occasion.

In other league matches, Kerala beat Tamil Nadu 22-16, SAI West beat Karnataka 20-8, Delhi beat Madhya Pradesh 19-3, Maharashtra beat Bihar 19-14, Jharkhand beat Andhra Pradesh 21-18 and Mumbai Handball Academy 21-15, Chandigarh beat Andhra Pradesh 18-15, Maharashtra beat West Bengal 19-10, Manipur beat Bihar 15-12 in the boys section.

In the girls section, Punjab beat Bihar 11-9, West Bengal beat Chhattisgarh 18-11, Kerala beat Maharashtra 21-5 and West Bengal 18-16, Manipur beat Madhya Pradesh 13-7, Chhattisgarh beat Maharastra 14-11, UP beat Orissa 14-11 in the league matches.